UK court gives victory to animal charities in legacy case

FILE- In this file photo dated Dec. 12, 2016, Heather Ilott, faces the cameras outside court in London. Britain’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday March 15, 2017, against Ilott who tried to overturn her estranged mother’s will after the estate was left to animal charities. (Dominic Lipinski/PA FILE via AP)
(The Associated Press)

LONDON – A UK court has ruled against a woman who tried to overturn her mother's will after she left her estate to three animal charities — and left her daughter out.

Britain's Supreme Court sided against Heather Ilott, a mother of five from Herfordshire, who had won 160,000 pounds ($195,000) from a lower court after her mother left her out of her will.

The ruling was a victory for the Blue Cross, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The charities said Wednesday that the ruling confirmed the "right to choose who will inherit when we die."